ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tiger Woods is skipping next week's Players Championship, raising major concerns about his ability to prepare for his Masters title defense next month and, more importantly, the overall state of his fitness in the wake of four back surgeries.

Woods complained of back stiffness three weeks ago in Los Angeles, where he finished last among players who made the cut at the Genesis Invitational and elected to skip the WGC-Mexico Championship.

But he didn't figure to take a pass on the Players Championship, the PGA Tour's flagship tournament, unless something is amiss.

"Back just not ready," said Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, in a text to ESPN. "Not concerning long term, just not ready."

Woods did not offer any public comment. Last week, Steinberg said that Woods was "not quite ready" to play at this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Now what?

Since playing a heavy schedule in 2018 after coming back from April 2017 spinal fusion surgery, Woods has maintained that he would be limiting the number of tournaments he plays. Last year, he played just 12 events during the 2018-19 season and then played three times in the fall, winning the Zozo Championship for his 82nd PGA Tour victory. He also finished fourth at the Hero World Challenge and went 3-0 at the Presidents Cup.

Everything seemed fine in January at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he tied for ninth. And at the Genesis, a tournament Woods hosts, he opened with 31 over his first nine holes and shot 69, but there were warning signs when he did not practice Monday or Tuesday on site and then decided not to commit to the Mexico event.

"I feel stiff, but I have weeks like that, especially in the cold mornings like it was the other day," Woods said after the third round of the Genesis three weeks ago. "Don't quite move as well, and that's just kind of how it's going to go."

Woods downplayed it at the time, and even suggested his issues were worse at the Presidents Cup in Australia, where he elected to sit out both Saturday sessions because he did not want to push it. He came back to win his Sunday singles match.

Now the speculation will continue. Will Woods enter the Valspar Championship, where he tied for second two years ago? Will he wait another week and go to the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship, where he tied for fifth last year? Will he play both? Neither?

"That's the fun part of trying to figure this whole comeback -- how much do I play, when do I play, do I listen to the body or do I fight through it? There are some things I can push and some things I can't," Woods said at the Genesis. "And so I had a theory this year that I may play about the same amount. What did I play, 12 times last year, and so that's kind of my number for the year.

"I won't play a lot more than that just because of the physical toll and I want to stay out here for just a little bit longer."